Apparatus for seaming papermakers&#39; drier felts



Oct. 9, 1934. T. HINDLE 1,976,169

APPARATUS FOR SEAMING PAPERMAKERS DRIER FELTS Filed May 16, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Q T. HINDLE Oct. 9, E934.

APPARATUS FOR SEAMING PAPERMAKERS DRIER FELTS Filed May 16, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2.

- INVENTOR mm m/(wen T. HINDLE Oct. 9, 1934.

APPARATUS FOR SEAMING PAPERMAKE'RS DRIER FELTS Filed May 16, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR T. HINDLE Get, 9, 1934.

APPARATUS FOR SEAMING PAPERMAKERS DRIER FELTS Filed May 16, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR I Oct. 9, 1934. T. HINDLE 1 1,976,169

APPARATUS FOR SEAMINGPAPERMAKERS DRIER FELTS Filed May 16, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 III R INVENTQR fig] 0% Patented Oct. 9, 1934 FATE OFFIE APPARATUS FOR SEAMING PAPERMAKERS DRIER FELTS Thomas Hindle, Blackburn, England Application May 16, 1932, Serial No. 611,619 in Great Britain June 27, 1931 4 Claims.

This invention relates to the jointing or seaming of the overlapping ends of paper makers drier felts on the paper making machine and in apparatus adapted for the purpose.

The drier felts used on paper making machines are frequently made endless by the felt maker with a spliced or knotted seam. The fitting of such an endless felt to a paper machine involves the removal partially or wholly of the intermediate rollers, and this is very objectionable, especially for wide machines. It has become customary in the case of wide machines to use a felt which is not endless, and which may be run on to the cylinders and rollers by sewing one end of the old felt to one end of the new felt, when rotation of the cylinders pulls the new felt into position.

The felt has then been seamed or joined by sewing the ends together by hand, but this produces a very crude seam, which gives considerable trouble due to the stitches giving way under the strain imposed on the joint when the felt is running, and which, due to irregularities is frequently the cause of the felt creasing or failing to run straight on the cylinders, even though the felt itself may have been woven straight.

It is desired to sew the overlapping ends of the drier felt together with four or more parallel rows of machine stitching.

Drier felts are often of considerable width, say 24 feed wide, and hitherto it has not been found practicable to construct a portable sewing machine capable of sewing the seams of such felts, and applicable for use upon any paper machine.

All the known systems of machine-sewing depend upon the action of a needle operated from and controlling a thread on one side of the cloth, and a shuttle or hook mechanism operated from and controlling a thread on the opposite side of the cloth.

A sewing machine of ordinary construction would require an overhanging arm of a length to reach at least from one edge to the center of the felt to make mechanical connection between the needle on the upper side and the shuttle or its equivalent on the underside of the cloth. Such a machine is impracticable in the case of wide felts as the necessary overhang of the arms would be 12 feet or more, and it would be impossible to provide the essential rigidity and at the same time maintain portability of the sewing machine.

It is the object of this invention to provide a new and improved method of machine sewing the seam of a drier felt when in position upon a paper machine and it is the further object to provide a particular form and construction of sewing machine which permits of the above method being successfully carried out.

According to the invention the felt is stitched 60. into endless form by a machine traversing between the overlapping ends, and the sewing machine is constructed with a central arm adapted to traverse between the folds or plies of the material, a needle mechanism carried by the arm above the material and a shuttle mechanism carried below the material.

The invention will be fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the sewing machine transverse to the drier felt.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the sewing machine.

Fig. 3 is a plan of sewing machine in position on drier felt.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation (enlarged) partly in section of sewing machine.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a section through the needles and shuttlebox.

Fig. '7 is a detail view of the central arm.

The machine is of portable and small overall dimensions and is constructed with a centrally disposed rigid arm A to which the two essential portions of the machine, name1ythe needle section B and the shuttle (or its equivalent) section D are attached and by which they are carried. A space or gap H is thus formed above and below the arm A between the two sections of the machine to receive respectively the overlap ends of the felt.

The rigid arm A is approximately oval in cross section and adapted to pass between the two layers 0, 0 comprising the seam overlap of the ends of the drier felt C. The arm A is hollow and a shaft E extends through it to transmit motion to the shuttle actuating mechanism D through the gears d to a crank shaft d connected with the shuttle carriage D The shaft E may be rotated by gears as shown or it may 100 be oscillated by an eccentric or crank.

The shuttle mechanism D of the machine is enclosed in a case D below the arm A forming a table d for the work to rest upon while being stitched and is mounted on wheels F to traverse 105 rails G temporarily placed on the paper machine upon which the sewing machine traverses across the felt during the operation of stitching.

The needle mechanism B of the machine is enclosed in a case B above the arm A. It may be 110 of known construction, with a battery of needles N operated from a crank n on a shaft n through a lever N Two pressers M are preferably employed for each needle. The crank shaft n is driven from an electric motor L mounted on the case B The needle mechanism B in the top section of the machine and the shuttle mechanism in the lower section of the machine function in known manner and are connected to work in unison through the shaft E gears e and (P.

The wheels F of the machine are propelled along the rails G by a ratchet motion G operated by an eccentric g In operation the drier felt C is threaded around the drying cylinders and intermediate rollers of the paper machine in the usual manner. The ends 0 c are brought together and overlapped about six inches and the felt C is held stationary on the machine by clamp O with hooks 0 attached to eachselvedge gripping it at the point of overlap where the joint is intended to be made. The clamps O are pulled apart by screws temporarily attached to the framework of the paper machine. The sewing machine is placed in position with one end 0 of the felt above and the other end 0 below the arm A in the respective spaces H, the

felt being rigidly held and stretched transversely by the clamps 0. As the stitching proceeds the arm A is displaced from the point of sewing, and

precedes the sewing as the sewing machine is traversed across the felt from one side to the other.

The sewing machine may be traversed across by any known mechanism of the ratchet or roller feed type and the rails on which it is guided, may take the form of racks and the running wheels be provided with teeth, thus giving a positive feed when the wheels are revolved by suitable mechanism.

The described method of sewing and machine may be usefully employed in seaming any type of wide belt, paper makers felt, printers blanket, and the like.

What I claim as my invention and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A sewing machine for seaming paper makers drier felts comprising a carriage, shuttle mechanism mounted on the carriage below the sewing level, a hollow arm carried by the carriage and passing between the two layers of material to be united, needle mechanism mounted on the arm, a shaft passing through the arm and gearing on the shaft to transmit motion to the carriage, and

the shuttle mechanism.

2. A sewing machine for seaming paper makers drier felts comprising a carriage, shuttle mecha- .nism;mounte d:on thecarriage below the sewing level, a hollow arm carried by the carriage and passing between the'two layers of material to be united, needle mechanism mounted on the arm,

a shaft passing through the arm, gearing on the drier felts as in claim 1 in which the carriage .is given an intermittent-forward movement.

.4. A sewing machine for sewing paper makers drier felts as in claim 1 having an eccentric to give a forward intermittent movement to the carriage and pawl and ratchet gear by which the carriage is traversed.

THOMAS liINDLE. 

